Wire fence



W. H. SOMMER.

WIRE FENCE.

APPucATLQN flu-:D ocT. 27, 1917.

1,378,489 I Patented May 17, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

d'1' Lm W. H. SOMMER.

WIRE FENCE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 2J. |4917.. y 1,378,489. PE1-.Emea May 17,19%.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. SOMMER, OE PEoRIA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, EY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To THE FIRST TRUST e' SAVINGS COMPANY, OE CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION oE-OHIO, AND JOHN A. CHAPMAN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, TRUSTEES.

WIRE FENCE. j

` Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 17, 1921.

Application led October 27, 191.7. Serial No. 198,782.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SOMMER,

at ate a citizen of the United States, residin Peoria, in the county of Peoria and of Illinois, have invented new and useful.

picket wires are wrapped at an angle to the lVertical; or to provide a lfence, the intermediate running wires of which, as well as the top and bottom wires, are oval or oblong in cross-section, around which the ends of round short sections forming the stay or picket wires are lwrapped.

Further objects, as well-as the advantages resulting from the use of line or running wires which are oval or oblong in cross-section will appear in the following description.

Figure l is a View of a piece of fence including round intermediate line or running wires and similar one piece stay or picket wires, and top and bottom or marginal wires which are oval or oblong in cross-section;

lthe intermediate line or running wires and the stay or picket wires where they cross being connected by a staple-tie, and the ends of the round stay or picket wires being wrapped around said oval or oblong marginal wires;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-Section, as the same would appear if taken on the line 2'-2 of Fig. l looking in the direction of theA Fig. 3 is an enlarged View of the staple-` top and bottom edges and flat sides, eitherl produced by a rolling or a drawing operation, or flattened after or during the weaving operation Fig. 5 is a view similarvto Fig. 4 except that the wire exhibits a more definite oval shape in cross-section, the sides of the wire instead of being Hat, having a convex suracemerging into the rounded edges thereof;

Fig. 6 is a view of a piece of fence including both intermediate and marginal line or running wires which are oval or oblong in cross-sectlon, and stay or plcket Wires which comprlse short sections of round wires, the

meeting ends of which are' intercoiled or interwrapped around intermediate line or runnlng Wires, and with the extreme ends of the outer sections of said stay or picket rwires coiled or wrapped around said marginal wires;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross-section, as the same would appear if taken on the line 7-7 ofl Fig. 6 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of the intercoiled or interwrapped ends of .the sections of 'round stay or picket wire around a line or running Wire, oval or oblong in crosssection. f Like characters of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the figures.

The top and bottom wires of the fence are designated l and 2, respectively, and the intermediate line or running wires are designated 3. In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the stay or picket wires 4 are made of one single piece of round'wire extending from one marginal wire to the other and crossing the interles'o mediate line `or running wires. The ends of Wires 4 are coiled or wrapped around the marginal wires at an angle to the vertical, as at 5, with the line of wrapping at an angle to the vertical, and where said wires 4 cross the wires 3 they are connected by mean-s of staple-ties 6. y

In Figs. 6, 7 and 8 the stay or picket Wires comprise the top and bottom short sections 7 and 8 of round wire and the in termediate Sections 9 of similar round wire. The meeting ends of the sections 9 are intercoiled or interwrapped around the wires 3, as at 10; the upper ends of the sections 7 are coiled or wrapped around the top marginal Wire l, at an angle to the vertical, as at 11; and the lower ends of the sections 8 are coiled or wrapped aroundthe lower marginal wire 2, as at 12.

Ycoiled or wrapped around a line 'or running wire, whether the last-mentioned wire is of a larger gageor not, the coil orwra'p will Open slightly after the pressure ofthe wrapping or coiling means has been released; so that when pressure is applied, in the direc'- tion of the lengthof the stay orpicket wlre, whatever the character of that pressure may be, the coil or coils inthe stay will becomeuncoiled or unwrapped landthe fence will become loose and sag and permit small animals to work through the meshes, and the fence generally vlose its efficiency for turning stock and small animals.'

The use vof line or running wires in they fence, oval or oblong in cross-section vand with their long diameters or wide faces ar` ranged substantially vertically, it has been demonstrated, )will noton1y-overcome the above stated objections, but will also', almost if not entirely prevent slipping of the coiled or wrapped portionsalong the line -or running wires. As an example, if va stay Vor picket wire, round in` cross-section, is colled or wrapped around a line or running,

wire, which is. oval Vor oblong in cross-section, approximately two i andI onehalf wraps,l the same condltlon exlsts as when a rope is wrapped around a winchand ten? sion applied to the ends of the rope. It is common knowledge that a rope and winch have enormous power, and when'the winch is turning it lrequires but a slight pressure lon the part of a person who is pulling the ropeto liftenormous loads. By the use of line or running wires, oval or oblong in cross-section, I have obtained the same advantage in fence construction, as has been illustrated withl the winch. For exampleif a stay or picket wire is wrapped two and one-half times around another wire, oval or oblong in cross-section', .without increased friction `it will have ,at least five times more strength than if the vsame stay or picket' marginal wires.

continuous coil, L7as where oneround wire is coiled around another round'wire.

Another advantage that the lineor r'unning wires, which. are -ovall or oblong in cross-section, has, as compared with a round wire is, to prevent the stay or picket wire from slipping on the line or running wire.

`I have stated that when the pressure of the wrapping means on the coill of the stay or oval wire very much ti hter and much more section. c

Therefore, in a fence of `the character shown in Fig. 1,`the top and bottom wires 1 and- 2 are made oval or oblon in cross-section; and the intermediatewlres 3, in the A effectively, than if t e coil lis wrapped- .around -a wirel which is round in crossfence shown in Fig. 6, as well as the top and 1 bottom wires 1 and 2, are made oval or-oblong in cross-section. v y

' It is of no particular advantage to make the stay or picket wires o val or oblong in ycross-section; however, it is understood that if it is desired to use such wires, this is comprehended in the present; disclosure. f

What I claim is: IA .wire fence including horizontally arranged top and bottom marginal nwires and intermediate wires, the said top and bottom marginalh wires being each approximately oblong in cross-section and having their widest faces arranged vertically, and

' vertically arranged stay-wires `having end portions with each of the latter wrapped aroundlthe marginal wires with the line of wrapping' at an angle to the vertical, 'the said end portions of the stay-wires being each tightly and closely wrapped a number of times around each of said top and bottom wires so as to form a series of wrappings each having long parallel sides and narrow ends, the ends acting to bite into the nar` rowed top and WILLIAMH. SOMMER.`

bottom edges of the said 

